Prolonged QT

[14566787]

After having chest pain and palpitations following CI I had several heart tests and have found out I have a prolonged QT . Doctor said it could be down to the antidepressants I have been taking for 10 years citalopram and has advised I come off them. I have been doing a slow taper since June this year and have managed to get down to 12mg from 20mg but I can't go any lower than that as I get horrible withdrawal and can't function day to day. Is it possible to stay on this drug at 12mg and be safe with the QT ? Or do I really need to come off them completely? Another option is switching to a different antidepressant but I'm concerned about side effects and withdrawal at the same time

Thanks

[bee2]

Hi I have acquired Long QT Syndrome that was caused by migraine medication, I had to come off it completely and avoid a long list of other medications. Are you being monitored as you are tapering down and are you still getting palpation and chest pain?

[14566787 in reply to bee2]

No I am not being monitored.But I am going to ask for an ECG as my last one was over a year ago and I had a stress echocardiogram too.

Withdrawal can cause chest pain and palpitations too so it's hard to say

[bee2 in reply to 14566787]

Anxiety is bad for us 😥

[wischo]

There are lots of antidepressants that do not cause prolonged QT and it appears to be mostly SSRIs that cause this, Mirtazipine and lots of others are safe alternatives so have a word with your GP. He can also give you something to offset any withdrawel symptoms until the new tablets kick in.

[14566787 in reply to wischo]

GP has mentioned switching to sertaline but will ask about mirtazipine

[wischo in reply to 14566787]

Both are pretty much good at what they do and I was on Mirtazipine for a year or so and found it great. It can make you oversleep a bit at first and gives you the nibbles meaning you can if not careful eat too much and put on weight. There is a website called Drugs.com which if you type ratings will give you hundreds of reviews on all types of medications including anti depressants including their satisfaction ratings. Great website and also gives you drug interactions (simple to use).